New standards proposed for reporting spinal cord injury experiments

IMAGE: Journal of Neurotrauma is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 24 times per year in print and online that focuses on the latest advances in the clinical and laboratory investigation...
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New Rochelle, NY, August 6, 2014--The difficulty in replicating and directly comparing and confirming the scientific results reported by researchers worldwide who are studying new approaches to treating spinal cord injuries is slowing the translation of important new findings to patient care. A newly proposed reporting standard for spinal cord injury (SCI) experimentation defines the minimum information that is appropriate for modeling an SCI in the research setting, as presented in an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available Open Access on the Journal of Neurotraumawebsite.

In the article, "Minimum Information about a Spinal Cord Injury Experiment: A Proposed Reporting Standard for Spinal Cord Injury Experiments" Vance P. Lemmon and a team of coauthors from University of Miami School of Medicine (Florida), University of California San Francisco, The Ohio State University (Columbus), Indiana University (Indianapolis), University of Kentucky (Lexington), and Niigata University (Japan), representing the MIASCI Consortium, describe how the adoption of uniform reporting standards and the use of common data elements can improve transparency in scientific reporting and facilitate the development of databases of experimental information--"computer-readable knowledge repositories."

"This manuscript from many of the leading researchers in the field of spinal cord research should provide uniform databases for researchers to review new findings in this rapidly growing field and promote the successful translation of treatments to the clinic," says W. Dalton Dietrich, PhD, Deputy Editor of Journal of Neurotrauma and Kinetic Concepts Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neurology and Cell Biology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.

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About the Journal

Journal of Neurotrauma is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 24 times per year in print and online that focuses on the latest advances in the clinical and laboratory investigation of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. Emphasis is on the basic pathobiology of injury to the nervous system, and the papers and reviews evaluate preclinical and clinical trials targeted at improving the early management and long-term care and recovery of patients with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma is the official journal of the National Neurotrauma Society and the International Neurotrauma Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Neurotraumawebsite.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, Tissue Engineering, and Brain Connectivity. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

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